OSFL Finances & Salary Cap - opinions ?

[Pretend_GM]

Looking at the income statements for last season, 2011, every team lost money. Every team ! Is this unrealistic ? Is the Salary Cap too high now ? , are teams spending too much ?

Would it be worth freezing the cap for a few years ?

There are currently 17 teams with more than 10 million in free cap room, that's more than half the league. The salary cap is only affecting a minority of the teams in our league.

This affects free agency: The fewer financial concerns we have, the less reason there is to cut a serviceable player for monetary reasons... i.e. the fewer good players there are in free agency, and the less of a cycle there will be in good teams getting worse and bad teams getting better. Maybe it's better for the leage to have that cycle of good years and bad years that we see in the NFL ?

Also, for gameplay, maybe the decisions get more difficult when there are more financial concerns. I.E. how often are we cutting decent players in this league due to financial reasons ?

What does everyone think ?

cheers

[aholbert]

I was thinking about this last season and I would absolutely be in favor of freezing or reducing the amount the salary cap increases.

There are a couple of issues with this though: 1) Some people may not see a reason to do this because we have always had pretty good FA clases. Players like Larry King, Billy Joe Jizmejian and JJ Fedolfi have been FAs. The reason behind that has always been because of absentee owners instead of teams making decisions about teams regarding the cap. 2) This would be a pretty significant changs in a league that has been pretty resistant to change (myself included). There has been significant push back from some owners on smalerl issues like mandatory team participation and the new FA rules.

With that said, I'm absolutely in favor of this change and am interetsted to hear what others owners say before we put it to a vote.

[Delandis]

I've yet to be in a league that any high paid vet was released due to cap issues.

[aholbert]

I've yet to be in a league that any high paid vet was released due to cap issues.

Fernando Perkins wasnt actually cut but he wasnt resigned because of cap reasons.

[nflchampion]

I kind of liked the idea from FOF Central to require a one-year offer to a terrible player annually with a bonus equivalent to 25% of the cap. Really limits the amount of available cap room for everyone and would require some hard decisions.

[path12]

Seems like this is the hot topic these days. I'd be OK with it either way.

[Bigsmooth]

How about only allowing renegotiating of contracts in a players last year?

[tarcone]

Usually good teams play closer to the cap. Bad teams have tons of cap space and complain that there isnt enough talent in FA.

[nflchampion]

I think that's more a consequence of good players knowing how renegotiations work in FOF, which gives them a huge advantage in retaining skilled players and creating great teams. Making cap management hard for everyone can only help level this gap at least a little bit.

[Pretend_GM]

Usually good teams play closer to the cap. Bad teams have tons of cap space and complain that there isnt enough talent in FA.

Ha ! Actually, you're right. There were four teams this year that have less than 2 million in free cap room. And 3 of those teams won their division.

So the cap does have some effect on the league, for sure. And the rules are the same for everyone so the better managers have made better decisions etc..., no doubt.

That is still a different question than asking what benefit do we get by raising the salary cap even more, seeing as the majority of the league isn't anywhere near the cap level ?

[Delandis]

Usually good teams play closer to the cap. Bad teams have tons of cap space and complain that there isnt enough talent in FA.

Yea. I think the year I signed Grisso(G) to an insane contract a couple of years back, it was because Ben said use all your money. I listened.

[aholbert]

Yea. I think the year I signed Grisso(G) to an insane contract a couple of years back, it was because Ben said use all your money. I listened.

LOL...I listened too. I've tried to use that approach each year.

[Plastic]

LOL...I listened too. I've tried to use that approach each year.

Everyone should...it is just wasting it if you don't.

[Rip Murdock]

The question you have to ask is this: Why do some people want to limit the salary cap? The answer is: There are a bunch of bored FOF veterans who want a new challenge. This is not about leveling the playing field and helping losing teams and struggling owners.

If you want to help the FOF veterans, then the salary cap ideas may appeal to you. I don't like the idea. I basically like the way the game is now.

What if we were all altruistic and wanted to help noobs and struggling owners? We could try to educate the noobs. Recently I've seen quite a few posts in league forums in this area. This is a good thing. Another idea is mentoring. Players have mentors. Maybe savvy FOF veterans should mentor noobs.

What in-game changes would help noobs? You could limit participation in the first FA stage (1-12). Say a rule like: all 12 playoff teams from the previous season are prohibited from participating in the first FA stage. That would leave 20 teams fighting for talent instead of 32. Should help the struggling teams, just like the draft does.

We have to be honest here. What are we really trying to accomplish? If we know what we want, then we can work to achieve that.


Utah

[aholbert]

The question you have to ask is this: Why do some people want to limit the salary cap? The answer is: There are a bunch of bored FOF veterans who want a new challenge. This is not about leveling the playing field and helping losing teams and struggling owners.

If you want to help the FOF veterans, then the salary cap ideas may appeal to you. I don't like the idea. I basically like the way the game is now.

What if we were all altruistic and wanted to help noobs and struggling owners? We could try to educate the noobs. Recently I've seen quite a few posts in league forums in this area. This is a good thing. Another idea is mentoring. Players have mentors. Maybe savvy FOF veterans should mentor noobs.

What in-game changes would help noobs? You could limit participation in the first FA stage (1-12). Say a rule like: all 12 playoff teams from the previous season are prohibited from participating in the first FA stage. That would leave 20 teams fighting for talent instead of 32. Should help the struggling teams, just like the draft does.

We have to be honest here. What are we really trying to accomplish? If we know what we want, then we can work to achieve that.


Utah

I'm far from a FOF vet but I want the offseason to be a little more difficult than it is. I want owners (including myself) to have to think hard about offering a long term deal to a FA.

The way it is now there is no real penalty if you spend big money on a FA and he flops. There is no downside other than the fact that he isnt playing well. Owners know that salary cap will increase significantly the next year so they can always will always have enough money to spend heavily next offseason. Worse case scenario, the owner has to renegotiate a couple of contracts.

I think freezing or lessening the amount the cap is raised will do two things: make the game more challenging for vets and lower the playing field for struggling owners.